


Tales of A Warrior Queen

by NightshadeDawn



Series: That happened... [43]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Royalty, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-02
Updated: 2018-10-02
Packaged: 2019-07-23 15:52:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16162070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightshadeDawn/pseuds/NightshadeDawn
Summary: “You are fourteen. A child!”“I am a Queen!”In which Princess Katherine is crowned Queen after her father and brother go missing and her mother dies. However, that does not stop her from going to look for them, or get mixed up in the great war.





	Tales of A Warrior Queen

**Author's Note:**

> We're going to pretend that this actually turned out well and like I wanted it, okay? Anyway, here's the prompt:
> 
> Based off the prompt: “Holy water cannot help you now. A thousand armies couldn’t keep me out. I don’t want your money, I don’t want your crown; see I’ve come to burn your kingdom down.”

        All things considered, the kingdom of Nyoe-Kyane was fairly peaceful. The union of the king and queen had brought two powerful kingdoms, Nyoe and Kyane respectively, together to form a mighty empire. 

        And in their years of marriage, they’d been blessed with two wonderful children. The prince and heir to the crown, Mathew, and his younger sister, the Princess Katherine.

        War, however, had not been kept from Nyoe-Kayne’s shores. 

        The Galran empire, a race of orcish-catlike beings, defeated the elvish Alteans. The kingdom of Altea was wiped out. And soldier met soldier in the space between. 

        The war lasted for many years, and far younger than before Prince Mathew was forced to endure the training of one of his men, so he may one day lead his men. 

        But that day came far sooner than one might have thought. 

        “Emperor Zarkon would like to propose a peace treaty,” the soldier said, standing straight and tall. Technically, Katie wasn’t supposed to be present for the meeting- not even her mother was present for the war council- but she’d found many ways to sneak in in her many years. 

        She moved the heavy gold embroidered red curtain out of the way just a bit more to peek at the man. A heavy suit of armor, likely made from the metal that was native to only Galra lands. Heavy fangs protruded from his jaw, cutting into his upper lip. The tell-tale purple tint to his skin made it evident enough which side of the war he stood on, and who exactly he was looking out for. 

        King Samuel’s hand curled tightly around the armrest of his throne, and Matthew stiffened beside him, as the soldier laid out Zarkon’s terms of the treaty. At least, for the meeting. 

        The king and heir prince would come alone, accompanied only by their best soldier, to meet with Zarkon, he under similar circumstances. Of course, a third party destination had been decided upon. 

        Katie could tell, from the way her father tapped his ring finger and pinky on the armrest, that he didn’t like it. But above all else, he was a king who looked out for his kingdom. And the war had gone on too long- the previous winter had been wroght with famine and disease on top of a shortage of food. It had wiped out almost half of their kingdom. 

        And King Samuel knew he was left with no choice. 

        “We’ll be back within the season,” he promised, kissing Katie’s forehead. Then he turned to his queen and gave her a soft smile. “It won’t be long before we’re home. And when we’re done, it’ll all be over.”

        Katie didn’t have a reason to distrust her father’s word, so didn’t cry as he, Mathew, and Captain Takashi Shirogane disappeared into the dense Autumn fog. 

        But they did not return before Winter came. Nor the Spring, nor the Summer. The heavy fog of Autumn returned once more, and still they were gone. 

        Winter came abruptly that year, and the people starved. War had not broken. Peace had not come. And the King and Heir were gone. 

        Disease swept through the capital, infecting them all. All it took was a single servant to have caught it, and then it spread like wildfire. 

        Katie and her mother were both bedridden for weeks on end, deep into the Winter months. When the fever broke, Katie rose from the bed. 

        Her mother did not. 

        At fourteen, Princess Katie had become Queen Katherine far too young, the crown weighing heavily on her brow. 

        She was not content to stay in one place, holed up in her castle. She rode to the garrison that Captain Shirogane had been from. 

        “I want to find my father,” she told Admiral Sanda. 

        Sanda’s eyes hardened. “We do not have the men to spare for such a fanciful flight,” she stated as if speaking to a child. “It is a hopeless venture; King Samuel and Prince Mathew are gone.”

        “Then I will go myself,” Katie stated, standing tall, her eyes narrowing. Admiral Sanda stood to her full height, but Katie did not back down from her glare. 

        “You are fourteen,” Sanda claimed. “A child!”

        “I am a Queen!” Katie shouted. “And I  _ know  _ my father and brother are alive.”

        Sanda seethed before addressing one of her associates. “Escort our  _ Queen  _ out of here and back to her castle, where she need not worry about the war.”

        Katie, for all she was worth, did  _ not  _ like being treated as if she were a delicate being who knew nothing and could  _ do  _ nothing. She would do this. She’d find them, because they surely had to be alive.

        Taking some of her brother’s old clothes, Katie crept from the castle and rode away on horseback, back to the garrison. Her first, and what she hoped to be her final, royal decree, was that her father’s most trusted advisor, a man known as Adam, be left in charge until her return. 

        She was leaving her kingdom in a state of disarray, but only for a time. She would find her way back to her home, with her brother and father in tow. 

        She entered the garrison the next morning, meeting two of the other cadets in training. 

        “Hey, who are you?” the dark skinned, lanky native asked. His blue eyes told of a tribe from near the sea, and his dark skin of those closer to Altea. The shorter, stockier boy seemed from near the sam region.

        “Pidge,” Katie answered hesitantly. “Pidge Gunderson.”

        “Welcome to the group!” the boy declared, wrapping an arm around Katie’s shoulder. “You’ll fit in just fine, I bet.”

        Her arms were sore every day from working on her training, and eyes tired by the end of every night from scouring the vast library held in the garrison. Her alchemic skills had always been stronger than her sword arm, seeing as the much larger men used broad, bulky swords she could barely lift.

        It was another night, out on the roof of the garrison, with only a bright candle and a stack of books. Lance and Hunk found her there, shortly before they heard a loud shriek. 

        The three looked to one another before running after the sound. 

        The screech had come from the large catcreature- a large, pure black panther with silky, inky black wings, and glowing yellow eyes- and the rider on its back. Captain Takeshi Shiogane. 

        These were the events that preluded the meeting of Keith Kogane, and the last two Alteans- Princess Allura and Royal Advisor Coran.

        “Take these,” Allura told the group, handing them all intricate, different colored whistles. “They may all summon a steed to you.”

        To Keith, Allura handed a long, red whistle engraved with gold. He blew it, and a high, short note came out, and to him summoned a red Hell Mare. 

        To Lance, Allura handed a winding whistle of silver and blue. The musical note to come forth summoned a blue pegasus from the skies. 

        To Hunk, Allura gave a small, rounded flute of yellow and white. To him was summoned a wolf thrice his size, with a golden pelt when he blew the note of bass. 

        To Pidge, she gave a long, green whistle shaped as the green dragon. The long, wind in bamboo sound brought to her a white lioness.

        Shiro received the obsidian black whistle, but the winged panther had already refused to leave his side.

        “You are the Paladins of Voltron,” Allura told them. “The most secret and sacred band of warriors of the Elves. Not just anyone could be these warriors.”

        There was a sharp, harsh glint to her eye. She’d seen death and war, and she’d come out strong because of it. 

        “And now it is time we fight.”

* * *

        The moments of victory when the group would win against Galra soldiers, or when they freed a village or town the Galra had enslaved, were always nice.

        But sometimes, the best moments were when there was downtime. 

        The moments when Keith and Lance would bicker, or compete again one another. 

        “It’s like flying!” Keith had shouted once from atop Red. 

        “I  _ am  _ flying!” Lance had proceeded to crow. When Keith had meant to retort, Lance had scooped him right off of his horse and onto the flying beast with the exclamation of “I’ll show you what  _ real  _ flying feels like!”

        If Blue hadn’t been better and actually made for flight, the ride would have gone a lot less smooth. Shiro had laughed at Keith expression when they finally landed on the ground, followed by Hunk and Pidge. Both Yellow and Black had rumbled their laughter as well.

        It had been a depressing moment, in most part, when Keith had been shot from Red by an arrow. Allura had been cornered on the other side of the battlefield, unable to reach him. Lance had been closest, jumping from Blue and running to his side.

        Crying, he’d pulled the arrow from Keith’s shoulder.

        His hands glowed blue, and marking much like those under Allura’s eyes formed on him for the world to see. 

        “You have the blood of an Altean within you,” Allura had said breathlessly, before breaking out in the widest of smiles. 

        The Alteans- were not extinct after all.

        But then there was the night that Pidge had revealed the truth. 

        Another village they’d saved had invited them to join in their celebration. In the battle, Pidge had been injured. It was hard to hide the truth after her clothing had been torn to shreds. 

        “I’m… a girl,” she admitted, looking away from the others, her hands folded properly in front of her. “My name is  _ not  _ Pidge Gunderson. I was christened Katherine Holt.”

        They all stared at her wide eyed. 

        “Yeah, you were way too proper to be any sort of farm boy,” Lance said, draping an arm over her shoulder. “But a princess? I’d never believe it.”

        Shiro laughed at Lance’s statement. “She’s never been proper enough for a princess,” he tease, to which Katie punched his arm, making him laugh even more. “My point is proven.”

* * *

        A year- maybe two, or three, or even four. Katie had long since lost track of time in the war on the battlefield.

        When she found her brother, she was overjoyed. It thrilled her even more when Hunk stopped keeping his distance. Ever since her reveal as the princess, he’d done so. And it had bothered her greatly- for he was the only one that Katie could talk to on the same level.

        With Matt back- there was finally ground between them again. 

        “I need to return to our kingdom again,” Matt told her. “Who knows what’s been happening since we left?”

        “Let’s hope not a lot,” Katie joked. 

        Matt had smiled, but Katie frowned when Hunk distanced himself once more. 

        “Why do you keep doing that?” she questioned him when they found themselves alone. 

        Hunk looked to the ground, look away, looked anywhere but her eyes. “It’s- I just- There’s a part of me that’s feeling improper things,” he said. “You’re a princess. I’m nothing more than a farm boy who’ll return to the farm when the farm is over.”

        Katie huffed, standing to her full height. “I am no  _ princess _ ,” she claimed. “I am a Queen. And that means that I may do whatever I please. And if it pleases me to love you and accept your love, then no one may say a thing against me.”

        And of course, no one would.

* * *

        The battle to end all battles. The win to end all wars.

        It had come upon them. 

        The Paladins and their steeds stood across from Emperor Zarkon, all their weapons drawn. Their companions ready to fight. 

        Zarkon sneered at Queen Katherine. “The last I saw you, you were fourteen,” he claimed. “A child. And even years later, you are a child still.”

        “I am a Queen!” Katie shouted, her voice echoing in the hall for all to hear. “I am a Queen who has fought for her people instead of ruling mindlessly, helplessly, foolishly from a protected throne! I have fought for my people, and if I must I will die for my people! But in everything,  _ I will protect my people _ !”

        The battle was fought and won just as one might think it would.

        Pidge stood above Zarkon as he cowered at her feet, her blade pointed at his neck. 

        “Anything! I’ll give you anything, but spare my life!”

        Katherine furrowed her brows.  “Holy water cannot help you now. A thousand armies couldn’t keep me out. I don’t want your money, I don’t want your crown; see I’ve come to burn your kingdom down.”

* * *

        The tales of their young Queen’s heroics had spread far and wide. How she had saved their kingdom, and freed all the others as well.

        Upon the return home, she’d tried to hand the crown back to her father- or even off to her brother- but both denied the claim. 

        “You have done more than I, dear sister,” Mathew said, his eyes sparkling. “And I would never produce an heir come the time.” He looked to Shiro out of the corner of his eye before looking down. “Besides, you’ve already been crowned. I have no place to take that title from you.”

        So continued the reign of the young Warrior Queen. Even after a place was given to the Elves in her court. Even after the knighting of those who’d fought with her. Even after the many, numerous weddings of a royal scale.

        And the legends would continue, into every age.

**Author's Note:**

> If you're actually interested, I might be persuaded to do more in this AU. You have no idea how long I had to think about all their animals, because I wanted them all to be different. Lance I knew had to have something to do with the sea, but I wanted to pull the whole "Yeah, but I'm ACTUALLY flying" shindig, so Pegasus. A child of Medusa and Poseidon. Hunk was easy too. The others? NOPE.
> 
> Anyway, wanna bother me personally? I actually have a tumblr. I just post random shit because I'm too lazy to separate anything, but feel free to come laugh at me.
> 
>  
> 
> https://nightshadedawn.tumblr.com/
> 
>  


End file.
